Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood. Much information once not considered true was confirmed in the book Billie Holiday by Stuart Nicholson in 1995. Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, which was first published in 1956, is sketchy when it comes to details about her early life, but has been confirmed by the Nicholson research.
Her professional pseudonym was taken from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name Halliday, which was the birth-surname of her father, but eventually changed it to Holiday, his performing name.
Her distinct delivery made Billie Holiday's performances instantly recognizable throughout her career. A master of improvisation, Billie's well-trained ear more than compensated for her lack of music education performance really was.
In 1972, Diana Ross portrayed Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues, which is loosely based on the 1956 autobiography of the same name. The film earned Ross a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also has been portrayed by Ernestine Jackson in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and by Paula Jai Parker in a Season 7 episode of Touched by an Angel entitled "God Bless the Child," the title deriving from a song that she had written and sung.
In 1987, Billie Holiday was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993, R&B singer Miki Howard released an album dedicated to Holiday titled Miki Sings Billie: A Tribute To Billie Holiday. The United States Postal Service introduced a Billie Holiday postage stamp in 1994, she ranked #6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock n' Roll in 1999, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Over the years, there have been many tributes to Billie Holiday, including "The Day Lady Died," a 1959 poem by Frank O'Hara, and "Angel of Harlem," a 1988 release by the group U2. A 1953 Holiday concert in New York is a key feature of the 2009 Arthur Phillips novel The Song is You.
On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying, and her hospital room was raided by authorities. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver (the result of several years of substance abuse) on July 17, 1959. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. Her funeral mass was held at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in New York City.
Critic John Bush wrote that she "changed the art of American pop vocals forever."She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," "Fine and Mellow," and "Lady Sings the Blues." She also became famous for singing jazz standards including "Easy Living," "Good Morning Heartache," and "Strange Fruit."
I Can't Get Started
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Settled revolutions in Spain
The North Pole I have charted
But can't get started with you
And at the golf course I'm under par
Metro-Goldwyn wants me to star
I've got a house and a show place
But can't get no place with you
You're so supreme
The lyrics I write of you
Dream, dream, day and night of you
Scheme just for the sight of you
Baby but what good does it do?
I've been consulted by Franklin D.
Robert Taylor has had me to tea
But now I'm broken-hearted
Can't get started with you
When first we met, how you elated me
Pet, you devastated me
Yet, now you've deflated me
'Till, you're my Waterloo
When J.P. Morgan bows I just nod
Green Pastures wanted me to play God
The Siamese Twins I've parted
Can't get started with you
In "Can't Get Started with You," Billie Holiday laments her inability to connect with a particular person. In the song, she lists off all of the amazing things she's done in her life - from traveling the world to charting the North Pole to being wanted by Metro-Goldwyn to star in movies - but acknowledges that none of it matters when it comes to finding love. The person she desires is so "supreme" that she can't help but dream and scheme about them day and night, but it seems all for naught.
Holiday's lyrics portray a sense of frustration and desperation; she's been consulted by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Robert Taylor, yet still can't find happiness with this person. She also reflects on the way this person has affected her life, going from elated to devastated to deflated. In the end, she compares her love interest to Waterloo, a famous battle that resulted in Napoleon's defeat, suggesting this person is an insurmountable obstacle for her.
Overall, "Can't Get Started with You" is a melancholic masterpiece that explores the age-old theme of unrequited love. Holiday's lyrics and delivery perfectly capture the feeling of being trapped in a one-sided infatuation, and the song's mournful melody only adds to the emotional weight of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been around the world in a plane
I have traveled all around the world in a plane
Settled revolutions in Spain
I have helped bring an end to revolutions in Spain
The North Pole I have charted
I have explored and mapped out the North Pole
But can't get started with you
Despite all my accomplishments, I can't seem to have a successful relationship with you
And at the golf course I'm under par
I am a skilled golfer and typically score lower than par
Metro-Goldwyn wants me to star
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wants me to be the lead in a film
I've got a house and a show place
I have a nice home and a great stage for performances
But can't get no place with you
But still, I can't seem to have a successful relationship with you
You're so supreme
You are so amazing and superior to others
The lyrics I write of you
I continue to write songs about you
Dream, dream, day and night of you
You are constantly on my mind, both when I am awake and asleep
Scheme just for the sight of you
I constantly think of ways to see you and be near you
Baby but what good does it do?
But despite all my dreams, schemes, and efforts, it does no good if I can't have you
I've been consulted by Franklin D.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt has asked for my advice
Robert Taylor has had me to tea
The popular actor Robert Taylor has invited me over for tea
But now I'm broken-hearted
But now I am sad and heartbroken
Can't get started with you
Because I can't seem to have a successful relationship with you
When first we met, how you elated me
When we first met, you made me feel so happy and overjoyed
Pet, you devastated me
But then you hurt me and devastated me emotionally
Yet, now you've deflated me
And now you have brought me down and depressed me
'Till, you're my Waterloo
I will continue to struggle and be defeated by my love for you, until I can have you
When J.P. Morgan bows I just nod
Even the powerful J.P. Morgan shows respect to me
Green Pastures wanted me to play God
I was asked to play the role of God in the play Green Pastures
The Siamese Twins I've parted
I have successfully separated the Siamese Twins (conjoined twins)
Can't get started with you
But despite all these accomplishments, I still cannot have a successful relationship with you
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cristina
This song just brings out all the feelings I got bottled up and helps me write them down and deal with everything going on in my life. Sometimes you just can´t talk to people and a blank sheet of paper and a pen helps more than any psychologist. Billie Holliday thank you wherever you are.
Howard Gutner
Ms. Holiday is sublime.
Herb Hays
Just wonderful!
Tree of trees
I read about this song in a novel and here I am. Lovely.
Daniel Weinstein
"Countess" Margaret Johnson, the pianist here, was a 21 year old prodigy who broadcast regularly from Kansas City in '36 and 7, and tragically died soon after this recording.
CitiZen
Too Sad
Joe Carbery
Frank Buchmann-Moller in "You Got to Be Original, Man!" describes her as "One of Lester's old girl friends from Kansas City. At this time she was in New York with Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy, substituting for the sick Mary Lou Williams."
JensonTunnel
Lady Day and this song--perfection.
CitiZen
Written for Bob Hope!!
Perry Weiner
@CitiZen He wasn't so bad at putting over a song. No Billie, but not so bad!